Trigger Freeze....

[pmd]

This past weekend I shot a Match at Manville and "Paper an Poppers" was the classifier.

I had the dredded "trigger freeze".

I just could not double tap the paper.

I had a good draw .. "bang" and then had to tell my self to "pull the trigger"... "bang" ... transitioned to the next target ... "bang" and again had to tell myself "pull the trigger... "bang"... I had a quick mag change, went to the poppers and shot those really fast ... "Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang".

I think my problem was thinking - I was telling myself that this was a really easy Classifier as the week earlier I had shot a 74% with a screwup - two extra shots on paper (don't ask.. I am a rookie.. ).

I seem to be doing this every now and again. Any remedies??

Thanks.

Paul

[lynn jones]

bill drills..bill drills..bill drills

[Jake Di Vita]

Well first is get the "double tap" mindset out of your head.

2nd....never look at a stage as easy. Looking at a stage as being easy makes you think you can burn it down. When you think you can burn something down, you create tension.

For me...whenever I see the dot (or the sight) in it's full arc of recoil, seeing everything that happens, I never have trigger freeze.

[GuildSF4]

2nd....never look at a stage as easy. Looking at a stage as being easy makes you think you can burn it down. When you think you can burn something down, you create tension.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Kind of like riding a motorcycle, when you think that you are the master of the bike it will come back and bite you.

[Catfish]

When I was getting trigger freeze, it was more often than not on very close up, hose-em type targets where I expected to be able to just rock through the array. When I quit expecting to shoot 'ultra fast' and just shot, it worked much better and trigger freeze is a thing of the past.

I think it has something to do with my eyes dictating the speed of the array, and not my expectations.

[pmd]

Agreed on all your comments -

At last weeks match I forgot about the basics - I guess I was too concerned about going fast which inturn ended up making me go slow.

I have been really trying to watch the dot at the last few practice sessions, while the speed has not been blazing - the results have lead to good hits.

Jake - you are right on about the tension I have replayed the stage in my mind and I was tense - no more thinking about the outcome until after the stage.

Thanks.

[GTOSHootr]

Paul,

It didn't help that it was our first stage either. I find I get trigger freeze most often on the first stage. Part of it is that I am not settling for a less than perfect sight picture, which isn't all that bad. Those targets were close though, so I don't think I needed one to call an A.

The way you shot the steel and the way you shot the paper was different, which I don't think should be the case. I think that "double tap" concept accounts for that.

Steve

[PaulW]

What Jake said is perfect!

Also being that it was the first stage reminds me of something I was thinking about the other day. Almost every sport we warm up before we actually compete. Most show up to shoot and do just that shoot. Very few people stretch or do and dry draws and reloads. I really try and stretch not just legs but fingers, wrist and forearms. This seems to help with those first stages until warmed up.

[BigDave]

To elaborate a bit on Jake's post...

The reason you encounter trigger-freeze is that you are probably thinking "I need to pull the trigger fast" or you were conscious of how fast/slow you were going. I'm reminded of the biking maxim, "the easiest way to hit something you don't want to is to look at it." If you're paying attention to the sights, how you are recovering from recoil, etc. the last thing on your mind will be how fast or slow you are pulling the trigger. Speed should be determined by the sights, not your finger.

And to go one step futher, there was a conversation between Brian and Robbie once were Rob said [para], "at this point, you really shouldn't be aware of how fast you're shooting."